Mormon Mission World

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Back in Latvia

Deja vu !

On Friday, June 1st, we sadly departed
Bulgaria.As we processed through
customs, the official checking our passports looked at the date of our entry
into the country and in a rather unfriendly voice said, “you know you can’t
come back to Bulgaria for 90 days?”What
ever happened to, “ya’ll come back now, ya hear?”Oh, I guess that is somewhere with crawfish
and a southern drawl!We acknowledged
that we were aware, but had applied for a type D visa and just might be back
sooner.She seemed OK with that.

After a relatively uneventful flight, we once again landed
in Riga.There we were greeted for a
second time by the welcoming smiles and warm embraces of President and Sister
Boswell.It was fantastic to see them
again!

They whisked us off to their car and graciously treated us to
dinner at Lido’s.The food was good, but
the company was better.It was so fun to
catch up and compare the experiences we had had since we parted.They also are providing a place for us to
live while we are here.Their building
is large and well-appointed.Adjoining
their apartment is a smaller one that they use for the young missionaries who
are coming and going.We are able to use
it while we are here.There are two luxurious bathrooms, an open
concept main area with a well equipped kitchen, a living room, a dining room
and a four-sided fireplace in the center.It is a good thing that our heads cannot be easily turned by such
comforts or we might never leave.

Saturday was a quiet day.We hauled all the things that had been collected from our former
apartment to our temporary quarters and did a little packing.In the afternoon we headed out to see the
town, pick up some Skippy Super Chunk Peanut Butter, etc.Before we returned home with our purchases,
which somehow grew to about twenty pounds of miscellaneous goods, it started to
pour.Most of the half mile walk home
from the final shop, where the heavy items had been purchased; we were in a
torrential downpour.Carrying heavy bags
and balancing an umbrella was a feat. By
the time we arrived home we were tired and soaked; but satisfied with our
adventure.

Sunday dawned sunny and bright, in spite of the forecast
that prediction 90% chance of rain.But
we were not complaining.Once we arrived
at church, we were greeted by warm smiles, vigorous handshakes and bone
crushing hugs.We have missed them so
much while we were away and thankfully they had not forgotten us either.Once again it was fun to catch up on
news.Two couples had married in our
absence so we needed to hear all about the weddings.Due to the language barrier others we could
merely hug and express our love.Some
things are universal!

Our hearts were
warm and full to be amongst loving friends.We will dearly miss them when we leave again.The Riga Center Branch – Russian Speaking is
the best Branch in the world and they will always be in our hearts.

We have no idea how long we will be staying in Riga, whether
it will be a week or a month or longer.We are praying for a quick resolution to our visa issue and the folks at
church here are praying that it will go slowly.

While we are here there seem to be some projects at the
office that have either waited since we left for our return or have been conveniently
delayed until now.However, while we are
here we are happy to be of use.President Roth, of the Bulgaria Mission, says that a busy senior
missionary is a happy missionary. He must be correct because we are happy
missionaries!

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Called to Serve

We received our mission call in June, 2011 and started our mission November 7th, 2011. We are called to serve in the Baltic Mission and were in Riga, Latvia as an office couple from November until March 2012.

We were reassigned to the Sofia, Bulgaria mission because the Baltic Mission had two office couples and the Bulgarian Mission had none. So here we are in Sofia, Bulgaria. You have to be flexible on a mission.